Blue Forests at World Conservation Congress 2016

Today we feature a joint piece from our partners, Dorothee Herr from IUCN, Montserrat Alban from Conservation International in Ecuador, and Leah Glass from Blue Ventures, on the World Conservation Congress which took place in Hawaii from 1st till 10th of September.

Held every four years, the IUCN World Conservation Congress helps shape the direction of conservation and sustainable development. This year over 10.000 delegates have met in Hawaii to discuss the “Planet at the crossroads”.

It is clear that we need an alternative path to improve the lives of billions of people around the globe and put nature at the heart of our decisions. At the IUCN WCC new partnerships across the planet are being created. Each partner holds a vital piece of the puzzle – the knowledge, the tools, the resources. We need to bring these pieces together, and collectively complete the greatest puzzle ever attempted: to secure Nature’s support systems so that Humanity and the greater community of life may continue to prosper on Earth. This is our collective challenge for the next 15 years.

IUCN, Conservation International and Blue Ventures are already engaging together in the UNEP/GEF Blue Forests Project in such a partnership to harness the values associated with carbon and other ecosystem services for better coastal management. At the IUCN WCC a joint workshop entitled “Using blue carbon to foster conservation and restoration of coastal ecosystems” presented and discussed different parts of the project.

Workshop on Blue Carbon as means to promote conservation and restoration habitats.

Recent years have seen enormous progress in the science, policy and practical application of Blue Carbon in marine conservation. The Hawai’i congress has provided a unique opportunity to share this rich learning through a global conversation with practitioners and policy makers, helping accelerate its transition from theory and research to practical reality.

Whereas many global and project efforts and studies exists, participants highlighted the need to include a regional level approach and develop blue carbon related policy efforts and strategies which address and take into account regional MPA challenges or existing regional Conventions.